Small Talk
by ZilSepam
Summary: "What do you want to do when we get our bodies back?" A brotherly moment.


Small Talk

The air was unpleasantly hot inside the small train, especially within the congested compartments. Edward and Alphonse Elric had the luck of sitting in what seemed to be the hottest compartment of them all, and to Edward's dismay, the window was stuck shut. Despite their attempts to keep themselves busy with card games, the unearthly temperature had become too much to handle. The older brother tugged at the collar of his shirt, trying to alleviate the clinging, sweat- soaked fabric from his skin. Temper boiling like the unpleasant heat, he let out a loud and agitated moan.

"Ugh. It's too hot. I can't focus." He grumbled as he laid his hand of cards down. "You win, Al."

The towering suit of armor made a small noise proclaiming his victory before taking his brother's hand and shuffling it back into the worn out deck.

"Do you want to start another round?" He asked, his hollow voice sounding rather thick from the humidity. Edward dismissed the idea with an unenthused flick of his wrist.

"We've played eight hands already, I'm bored." He groaned. Wiping away the beads of sweat that were dripping from his brow, he briskly sat up and started tugging at the window.

"Dammit, that's it! I'm transmuting this stupid thing!" He spat, and clapped his hands together before a word of caution could escape Alphonse's steel mouthpiece.

"Finally!" Edward beamed as he pulled on the now gothic and gaudy looking window, "We can get some damn airflow in here!" He jovially pulled the window down, only to find that the air outside was just as searing.

"AAAH! I can't take this stupid heat!" Ed hollered in frustration.

"Brother, calm down!" Alphonse pleaded, although it sounded more like an order. "Enjoy the heat while you can, it's going to be cold in the North."

"Right now I'd rather be freezing my ass off than bathing in my own sweat." He sneered, and slunk back into his seat. "I can't wait to get out of this stupid heat."

"I always liked the heat." Alphonse confessed. Edward shot him an irate, but playful glare. "It reminds me of summers back home, when we used to play in the river with Winry and Mom."

Ed scoffed at his brother's words and directed his gaze to the horizon line outside, but his scowl softened as he thought of his own memories by the childhood play place.

"Yeah. We had some fun times there. Didn't we, Al?" He said, a small pinch of nostalgia could be heard in his tone. Alphonse nodded softly and directed his red stare to his gauntlet hands.

"I hope Mei can help us." Al confessed. "I'd like to go swimming while it's still hot."

Edward let his brother's words sink deep into his mind. Still focusing on the fast moving landscape, he said, "You know. I've never asked you what you want to do after you get your body back."

Alphonse looked to his brother, who's nonchalant body language gave no stir of change. "What do you mean?"

"I want to know what you want to do once you're whole again." He stated dryly. Mirroring his brother, Al looked outside and watched a flock of birds fly in the opposite direction of the train.

"I.. I want to help people." Alphonse answered. "If alkehestry can help us, I want to find a way to use it for others. Maybe become a doctor, or start an alchemy academy." He chuckled softly and turned his attention to Edward. "What about you, Brother?"

Edward made no physical response to the question, but the wheels in his head were turning at an alarming rate. Had he ever thought of a plan for after he got Al's body back? Leaning his forehead against the glass of the window, he tried to think of some kind of answer, but nothing came.

Nothing, but the image of a beaten dirt road in a hill-covered countryside. The sun was blazing, but this time around the heat didn't bother him. He imagined an unusual feeling of anticipation rattling his bones, urging his body to move faster than it could.

He could see nothing but the sun shining on an old yellow house. A welcoming feeling that he hadn't felt since childhood burst through his chest, and he walked to the front door hoping that his presence was just as deeply desired as his longing to be there. There was something in that house he needed to confront, but it wasn't the kind of confrontation he had dealt with before. He placed his hand, his flesh right hand, on the doorknob and prepared himself for something he never thought he'd take a chance on. Something he secretly knew he had wanted, but circumstances kept him from obtaining. Those circumstances wouldn't be in the way though, once he was whole again.

When everything was said and done, that's what he wanted.

"Eh. We'll see what happens when we get there." Ed shrugged, and put his hands behind his head. "I don't want to obsess over what could be."

He then shot a sinister grin at the armored giant and whispered, "Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

"WHAT AN AWFUL THING TO SAY!" Alphonse cried out, and Edward couldn't help but laugh hysterically at his brother's exasperation. Looking out the window once more, he stared at the mountains looming in the horizon, and felt a tinge of excitement.

The image of the yellow house never left his mind.

* * *

A/N: This story is something I came up with randomly in the middle of class. I didn't spend much time making an elaborate piece, but I think the short simplicity of it works. :)


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